Advice wanted for my daughter please

MrsA1939

My daughter left an abusive husband and has been living in a refuge for the last 12 months, because she works 27.5 hours a week taking home £663 a month, she had to pay rent of £115 a week, this did not include food.

She has now been offered a flat, the rent being £74 a week this does not include water and council tax.

The Housing Association have told her that she earns too much to get any housing or council tax benefits, is this correct? I have checked entitled to but to be honest to not really understand it.
She has lots of health problems including mental health issues, her support worker has applied for DLA but she has been turned down because she able to take her medication on her own. She has put in an appeal.

She has also asked her employers NHS to increase her hours to 30 so that she can apply for WTC but they have refused, personally I feel that she is not well enough to work while she is so poorly, (she has just returned to work after being off sick with depression for 10 months)

Any advice greatly appreciated thank you

SkyWatcher_3

No, this sounds wrong on the information you have provided, I woudl guess there would be some HB entitlement. Talk to the Council who should be able to do a good estimate of likely entitlement. Have details of her earnings, savings and any other income to hand as these details will be needed to make an assessment.

jezzebell

Hi yes she would be entitled to some HB but how much would depend on the LHA rates for her area. if you look here https://lha-direct.therentservice.gov.uk/Secure/LHARateSearch.aspx?SearchType=PostCode you can find out the LHA rate for her area. as she is a single person and i presume over 25 she is entitled to a 1 bed self contained rate. if she is under 25 it would be the 1 bed shared rate

MrsA1939

Thanks Jezzabel, I think I am a bit thick on these things lol, the rate says £98.08 does that mean that is what the rent should be?
They have given her a 2 bed flat, she is 50

Caz3121

As a single person over 25 she would get the 1 bed rate but think LHA applies to private rents.
The rate they give is the maximum they would pay to someone on full entitlement (so if the rate was £98 per week and the rent was £100 then they would need to find the difference herself)

Macro_3

Well £663/month is £153 take home pay per week. The first £5 is disregarded, leaving £148.

Her applicable amount as a single 50 year old is 60.50, leaving excess income of 87.50. This excess income will reduce her entitlement by 65p in the £, so with a rent of £74 I'd expect her to qualify for around £18 off the top of my head, maybe more, maybe less depending on the LHA rate.

bestpud

If she is given a Housing Association property, she will claim Housing Benefit and not LHA, so it won't matter what size the property as they are considered a fair rent anyway.

She will only need to do LHA calculations if it will be a private rent.

I wouldn't normally suggest this, but would she be better off decreasing her hours slightly?

She would be worse off I'd say, even with the extra HB, but it sounds as though she is running herself into the ground at the moment.

The danger with pushing herself to the limit is she may not be able to work at all, and that could be a disaster for someone with depression, and I assume low self esteem.

Hopefully she could increase them again once she is settled.

Just my thoughts of course.

hippy-chicy

LHA does not apply to Housing association properties/ RSL properties / council properties.

Her rent of £74 per week will be considered less and ineligible service charges if applicable.

' Thanks Jezzabel, I think I am a bit thick on these things lol, the rate says £98.08 does that mean that is what the rent should be?
They have given her a 2 bed flat, she is 50'

As best pud has already stated the LHA only applies to private rentals. The LHA rate is the maximum eligible rent that the Local authority will use to calculate someones Housing Benefit. It takes into account the number of rooms the 'household' needs. It doesn't mean thats what the rent should be - its set my the rent officer each month and is basically an average, fair rent for that type of property e.g one bedroomed, two bedroomed etc, but this won't apply to your daughter.

'because she works 27.5 hours a week taking home £663 a month '

Will she qualify for Working tax credits? Maybe someone with a bit more knowledge of them can clarify. If so does she already claim them, if so these will also be taken into account as her income.

alwaysonthego_2

She could make her hour up to 30 by doing something like avon, self employed!

MrsA1939

Thanks for all your helpful replies,
As I explained in my first post she cannot get working tax credit because she is not on 30 hours, and her supervisor has refused to up her hours, stating that she is not well enough, and says that she should not be working at all, but she will not finish her.
My daughter feels that she is being awkward to get her to leave of her own accord, which of course she cannot do, because she would not be able to claim any benefits, she feels that she is being penalized because she wants to work, apparently she would get WTC if she worked 16 hours if she was receiving DLA, which as I have said she has been turned down for because she is capable of taking her own medication.

She has no confidence at all and very low self esteem due to the abuse from her husband for . during the 25 years with her husband she has O/D on 3 occasions, and her state of mind now I am worried that she may try again.

The Housing Association have told her that she is definitely not entitled to help with rent or council tax.

When she left the refuge last weekend she came to stay with me until her flat is ready, (there is no fire or central heating yet, no bath, and the workmen are in every day modernising it) but she was told by the refuge that if she did not move in this weekend she would lose her support worker,
She has no furniture only a bed and a few bits and bobs, and no money

Sorry if this has been long post

skint_taffy

ask her support worker to access the council run furniture charity as she is not entitled to a grant from dss they usually have a warehouse where people donate furniture for people who are in your daughter's situation and its free may help